Building flashing



Dec. 12, 1939. e. w. ORTH ET AL 2,182,877

BUILDING FLASHING ATTORNEY.-

Patented Dec. 12, 1939 UNITED STATES BUILDING FLASHING George .W.

Orth, Philadelphia, and Herbert P.

Orth, Merwood, Pa.

Application September 8, 1938, Serial No. 228,894

9 Claims.

This invention has to do with flashings such as are employed in wall structures for the purpose of guarding against seepage of moisture through the walls.

At the present time the use of flashings in the art of building construction is'becoming more and more widespread. J The metallic flashings are incorporated at appropriate places in walls or masonry to guard against the seepage of water and moisture through the walls. The use of such fiashings in wall structures presents certain problems and conditions which the known art has attempted to accommodate. However, the solutions to the problems afiorded by the known art have been inadequate, and are intended to be improved by this invention.

Generally speaking flashings are incorporated into masonry wall structures between layers of stone or brick by being embedded in the mortar therebetween. Inasmuch as the adhesive bond afforded by a surface contact between mortar and metal is very weak, it hasbeen necessary to supplement any such bond which may exist by a structural formation which will create a good mechanical bond.

It has, therefore, been the practice to form the metallic fiashings with so-called undercut grooves which may. take the form of either dovetail grooves, or grooves of the so-called sawtooth type; In either case the mortar which extends into the groove, upon solidifying, presents a key-like structure providing a good mechanical bond.

. In incorporating these flashings into a wall structure it is also necessary to guard against relative lateral displacement, as the adhesive bond between the mortar and metal is not sufliciently efiective to insure of the required result. Accordingly, it has been the practice to make the wall,

structure which defines the grooves of an irregu- 5 walls and drain the same by passing them off to the exterior face of the wall. It is the grooves in the fiashings which ordinarily constitute the drainage passageways, and with the ridges formed in the grooves the drainage functions thereof are 55 greatly hindered with the result that Water often lar nature so as to provide, in efiect, ridges which collects between ridges, and upon freezing causes breaking and rupturing of the wall.

With the foregoing conditions in mind this in vention has in View, as an important objective, the provision of a metallic flashing of the type above noted which includes grooves of the character above specified, which grooves are defined by the main body portion of the flashing? bend portion, and an overhanging lip which is formed by the metal of the flashing being bent back upon itself. The flashing presents an irregular formation for guarding against lateral displacement, but this irregular formation is formed solely in the overhanging lip structure, with the bend portions of the grooves remaining substantially straight and undeforme'd. The irregular formation of the overhanging lip improves vertical as well as lateral bonding and does not interfere withdrainage through the grooves, for they remain straight.

Another important object of the invention is associated with this problem of providing unob structed drainage passageways. In incorporating the fiashings into a building structure the mortar is forced into the grooves to provide the necessary mechanical bond. It has been the generally accepted theory that upon the mortar drying there is sufilcient shrinkage to leave enough of the groove open to provide the required drainage effects. It has been found, however, that under practical conditions adequate passageways are not formed by the shrinkage of the moisture.

Accordingly, this invention has in view, as a further object, the provision/in a flashing of the character above noted, of means for causing disintegration of the mortar at the bottom of the undercut grooves, thus insuring of an adequate drainage passageway. This object is achievedby lining the bottom of each groove with a material which will attack the mortar mixture when the latter contacts therewith to cause a disintegration along the line of contact. Materials which will perform this function are known to the public and available, and might be briefly characterized as being a casein mixture.

Practical manufacture and commercial disposition of the flashings require that they be made in strips of standard length. Thus when the flashings are incorporated in a wall structure it becomes necessary to provide for a seal at the meeting edges of adjacent flashings. A seal at this point is of importance because one of the main purposes for incorporating thefiashings into a wall structiue is to prevent the water seeping past the flashings.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a highly improved seal between these adjacent fiashings. In carrying out this object the edge of one flashing is formed with an undercut groove and overhanging lip, with the metal at the top of the overhanging lip continued to provide a flange that is corrugated to provide one or more ribs. The edge of the next adjacent flashing is of a complemental construction in which the main body portion of the flashing is continued past the undercut groove a sufficient distance to provide a flange that is also corru gated. The corrugations or beads on the last mentioned flange are adapted to contact the main body portion of the first mentioned flashing, while in a similar manner the corrugations on said first mentioned flashing contact the main body portion of the second mentioned flashing. With the flashings so arranged and incorporated into a building structure, the weight of the masonry is efiective to press the apices of the corrugations into contact with the main body portions of the fiashings so as to provide a thoroughly effective seal.

Various other more detailed objects and advantages will in part become apparent and in part be hereinafter stated, as the description of the invention proceeds.

The invention, therefore, comprises a metallic flashing for masonry wall structures which includes a plurality of undercut grooves that are defined by bottom bend portions and overhanging lips. The overhanging lips are deformed to present an irregular structure that is to be embedded in the mortar, while the bend portions constituting the bottom of the grooves are maintained straight. These bend portions or bottoms of the grooves are lined with a material which will disintegrate a mortar mixture upon the latter coming in contact therewith. The edge of each strip of flashing terminates in a flange that is corrugated for cooperation with the next adjacent strip of flashing to provide a moistureproof seal.

For a full and more complete understanding of the invention reference may be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a masonry wall in which the flashings are incorporated in accordance with the precepts of this invention,

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a piece of the flashing per se,

Figure 3 is a view in side elevation of a portion of the flashing,

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 bringing out the manner of joining the edges of adjacent fiashings to provide a seal, and

Figure 5 is a side View showing the manner in which one of the undercut grooves is embedded in the mortar, and lined with the disintegrating material.

Referring now to the drawing, wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts, Figure 1 develops the flashings of this invention as incorporated in an ordinary brick wall which is referred to in its entirety by the reference character W. In this connection it is to be noted that the flashings are susceptible of use in any masonry structure in which mortar is employed to bond the several layers of bricks, stones or building blocks together. One course or layer of bricks is identified in Figure 1 by the reference character L1, while the course or layer immediately thereabove is identified as L2.

Between the courses L1 and L2 there is a layer of mortar identified as M. The flashing referred to as F is incorporated in the mortar M. As shown in Figure 1, the flashing F is in strip formation and includes a main body portion in that coincides in breadth with the thickness of the wall W. On the edge which lies on the inner face of the wall W the main body portion I is formed with an upstanding flange ll, while on the edge at the outer face the main body portion ID is formed with a downwardly depending flange In this connection it is notable that in many building constructions the inner upwardly extending flange H, as well as the outer depending flange l2 may be dispensed with.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 2, which develops the main body part l0 without the flanges II and i2, it will be noted that this main body part I0 is formed with a plurality of undercut grooves of the so-called sawtooth type. Each of the grooves itself is referred to by the reference character 13, and is shown as being defined by a bend portion M. which constitutes the bottom of the groove, the main body portion iii of the strip of flashing constituting one side of the groove, and an overhanging lip H: which is formed by the metal of the main body portion I!) being bent. back upon itself.

The overhanging lip 15 is of an irregular formation, such as the serpentine curve illustrated, while the bottom 64 is maintained undeformed and substantially straight, as illustrated. This construction may be obtained by employing dies which are effective to deform the overhanging lip alone, the dies being inserted between the double thickness of metal thereat to cause a flow of the metal in the overhanging lip without disturbing the metal at the bend portion l4. This grooved formation with the straight bottom and irregular overhanging lip can be formed with a single stamping operation involving the use of complemental dies.

It is evident that with the above described construction of the grooves i3, the latter afford a straight unobstructed drainage passage for passing water to the outer surface of the wall W.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 5, the bottom of each of thegrooves I3 is shown as being lined with a material identified as 16. This material is essentially casein in character, and may comprise a mixture in which commercial casein to the extent of 60 per cent is carried by a gelatinous base of a glue nature. When the mortar which is wet comes in contact with the material is, the gelatinous base of the glue nature is dissolved by the limewater of the mortar mixture, and the casein attacks the mortar mixture to disintegrate the same along the line of contact. Thus the bottom of the groove i3 is left open and unobstructed so as to constitute a good drainage passageway.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 4, the manner of providing a seal between the meeting edges of adjacent strips will be described. One strip of flashing F is shown as formed with the undercut groove i3, with the top layer of the overhanging lip l being continued out to provide a flange I'I that is corrugated to provide ridges or beads I 8. The next adjacent flashing is identified as F1 and is shown as formed of a complemental construction with the flange I1 corrugated to provide beads or ridges I 8 which engage themain body portion H] of the flashing F. The beads or ridges l8 of the flashings proof seal is provided.

While a preferred specific embodiment of the invention is hereinbefore set forth it is to be clearly understood that we are not to be limited to the exact constructions illustrated and described, because various modifications of these details may be provided in putting the inven tion into practice within appended claims.'

We claim:

1. A flashing of the character described consisting of a strip of metal formed with "a plurality of undercut grooves to provide mechanical key bonding in the mortar bed of a masonry structure, each of said grooves having a bottom bend portion and an overhanging lip, said bottom bend portions being substantially straight so as to provide eflicient drainage channels and the purview of the with the overhanging lips having an irregular 7 a. wall structure, the top layer of said overhanging lip beingcontinued at one end of the formation to provide bonding keys in said mortar bed.

2. A flashing comprising a sheet of material formed with drainage channels, and a coating of a mortar mixture disintegrating compound covering portions of the bottoms of said drainage channels.

3. A flashing of the character described comprising a metallic strip formed with a plurality of undercut grooves that are defined by bottom bend portions and overhanging lips, said over- I hanging lips being of an irregular formation with the bottom bend portions substantially straight, and means lining said bottom bend portions for destructively attacking a mortar mixture upon contact therewith.

4. In a masonry wall structure, a joint between the meeting edges of adjacent strips of flashing comprising flashings having main body portions, one of said strips being formed with a corrugated flange, and beads on said corrugated flange engaging a flat surface on the main body portion of the other strip of flashing to provide a seal. I

5. In a mortar wall structure, a joint between the meeting edges of adjacent strips of flashings comprising flashings having -main bodyout groove to provide a flange, said flange being corrugated, the top layer of metal defining the overhanging lip being continued to provide. a

a flange, said flange being'corrugated, said corrugated flanges presenting beads that are in engagement with the main body portions of the other flashings.

6. A flashing of the character described comprising a strip of metal having an undercut groove adjacent each end, said metal being continued past the undercut groove at each end to provide a flange, said flanges being corrugated to provide beads that are adapted to engage adjacent fiat portions of strips of flashings to pro- 7 I vide a seal.

7. Aflashing of the character described comprising a strip of metal formed with an underout. groove adjacent each end, each of said undercut grooves'being defined by the main body portion of the flashing, a bottom bend portion and an overhanging lip that is formed by the metal of the flap being bent backupon itself, the bottom bend portion of said groovebeing substantially straight, while the overhanging lip is of an irregular formation providing projections that are adapted to be embedded in the mortar of flashing to provide a flange, said flange being corrugated to provide beads, and a flange at the otherend of the flashing formed by the metal of the main body portion being continued past said undercut groove, said last mentioned flange also being corrugated to provide beads.

8. A flashing of the character described consisting of strip metal formed with a plurality of undercut grooves, each of said grooves being.

formed by an inclined bottomwall and an inclined, side wall which are joined by a bottom bend portion and arranged to provide mechanical key. bonding, the ,saidbottom bend portion of each groove being substantially straight so as to provide efficient drainage channels, said inclined .side walls carrying at their top edges projections that are adapted to provide mechanical key bonding in the mortar of a masonry wall.

9. A flashing of the character described com- .prising a strip of sheetmaterial formed with a plurality of undercut grooves that are defined by bottom bend portions and inclined side walls to provide mechanioalvkey bonding in the mortar 1 inclined side walls carry projections spaced from said bottom bend portions so as to provide mechanical key bonding in said mortar bed and.

leave said bottom bend portions as unobstructed 

